A moment of awareness
by outlawqueener
Summary: A dance can change the way you see the world around you.


Second edition of OQ Week is underway and this is my work for the prompt Masquerade Ball. I'm probably not writing for the whole week, but I'll try to fill some more. Enjoy!

* * *

He asks her to dance with a gentle smile gracing his handsome face. She looks up and thinks about how inappropriate this looks _if_ she was to actually waste her time worrying about those who still talk behind her back even after everything she's been doing to change in the past year or so. She acquiesces and takes his hand with a small smile and she's surprised when she feels his hand trembling a bit.

And he's apparently set to surprise her all night long, once his elegant pace defies every single opinion she already has about him.

His sultry voice telling her stories about his boy's adventures in the woods distracts her more than she could ever admit.

She laughs openly and his eyes shine beautifully at the sight. They talk some more and there's a fog separating them from the rest of the world and he feels like no one else matters at that very moment.

His blue eyes, so gentle and welcoming, stir something inside her, something she can quite put a finger on, but she knows it's probably dangerous if she gets too close.

He's captivated by the honesty he finds deep inside her eyes, and he knows very well she can hide every emotion from anyone but him. She's like a book, an open one, and he's eager to read it, to learn her history, the one no one's able to tell because they can't see past the moniker that accompanies her for so long now.

His small smile makes her heart race and she can't, and quite frankly, doesn't want to understand why. His heart skips a beat every time she looks at him with a hint of mirth in her face because of something he's said. He's suddenly aware of the need he has to see her so free and beautiful. He wants to make her happy because there's nothing prettier in the world as Regina's smile.

The music changes, and when his stubble lightly grazes the delicate skin of her cheeks and his lips lightly touch temple, she fights the urge to close her eyes and breathe him in, to get closer than she already is. She doesn't want to feel anything for anyone, because she's always hurting whenever she opens her heart and she can't bear it broken again.

He knows her heart is broken. He knows she's lost her boy and is probably broken beyond repair, but he can't help but think that deep down she has a chance, a second chance to be happy. He doesn't know her story, he doesn't know what happened to her, but he sees her scars and knows some of these wounds are opened again, others have never healed completely. He understands that her boy, her Henry, was the one helping her in this painful healing process, but he's now lost to her forever. And it suddenly struck him the need to never let anyone her that beautiful woman again.

His hand runs slowly up and down her side, her breathe hitches and she's suddenly aware of his closeness and how dangerously tempting it is to have his lips so close to hers. And she knows she can't do this. She takes a step away from him and excuses herself, saying she's tired and needs to rest.

He knows it's a lie because he's just as affected by her closeness as she is by his. And right now he would give anything to keep her close, to feel her sweet perfume invading his senses. He's lost and he knows it.

Later, when it's hard to sleep, but this time the reason is not because she misses Henry so much she can't close her eyes in the night, she wanders through the corridors her breathe is labored and the thoughts running through her head making her feel dizzy. She takes a turn and 10 minutes later is outside, inhaling the cold air, the breeze coming from the forest filling her lungs with a burning need to cut that fear away from her. The fear of getting and losing; the fear of giving in and be left alone again; the fear of loving and not being loved. The fear of living like she always wanted, because once upon a time she pursued her dream and had her heart crushed with Daniel's. She tried again and had Henry taken away from her. And now she feels it again, the blood pumping insanely in her veins, her thoughts creating scenarios, her deepest wishes for happiness awakening.

She can't let it happen, not again.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Comments are well appreciated!


End file.
